Letters to the Editor: Week of Jan. 1, 2014

For faith-based communities, addressing climate change is about keeping the sacred covenant with God to be good stewards of His creation and to protect the poor who stand to suffer most in a changed climate.
For example, Pope Francis said, “I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.”
In 2012 the Episcopal Church said it “stands in solidarity with those communities who bear the greatest burdens of global climate change… and calls on congregations, institutions, dioceses, and corporate offices of The Episcopal Church, to work for the just transformation of the world’s energy beyond and away from fossil fuels…”
The Southern Baptist Conference said, “In the face of intense concern and guided by the biblical principle of creation stewardship, we resolve to engage this issue… Humans must be proactive and take responsibility for our contributions to climate change—however great or small.”
The United Methodist Church has said, “As a matter of stewardship and justice, Christians must take action now to reduce global warming pollution and stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world whose land, livelihood and lives are threatened by the global climate crisis.”
As these statements show, mitigating climate change is one of the great moral issues of our time, and members of faith communities have a role to play in persuading our elected officials to take action.
It is important in this coming year that our Congress acts responsibly to put a price on carbon emissions and mitigate climate change impacts.

Gregory T Haugan, PhD
Citizens Climate Lobby
Heathsville

A second chance to be your voice

Dear Citizens of the 99th District,
I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.
As we prepare to ring in the New Year, I am about to start my second term in Virginia’s General Assembly as a Citizen-Legislator on January 8, 2014 at noon. Unlike our federal government in Washington, I do not live and work full time in Richmond. I spend 3 months out of the year in Richmond serving the people of the 99th District as your legislator, going home on the weekends to spend time with my family and to get input from citizens. I then return back to the district to work full time at our small family business and to be of assistance to my constituents whenever possible. This allows me to see firsthand what is going on in the district as a full time working mother and local resident.
I would also like to share with you my pre-session survey. I am honored to have been re-elected to another term this past November and I am honored to continue representing all of my constituents of the 99th District in the General Assembly. I want to hear from all of you regarding the issues that matter most. Please take a minute and fill out my 2014 pre-session survey. As I continue to do my best to represent everyone in the 99th District of the Commonwealth of Virginia, it is vital that I hear from you and see where you stand.
You can find a link to my survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/Margaret Ransones/2014PreSessionSurveyRansone or visit my website at www.margaretransone.com to fill out the survey and sign up for email updates.
I hope you and your family have a blessed and happy new year.